Kate, Kate, and Tony
by Denaliyasha
Summary: Tate. Another very fluffy postep for Chained. Secret Santas in the office, wonder what will be under the tree this year...


Disclaimer: I don't own it. It's all someone else's. I don't even know whose. Fluffy probably does, but he's evil and I won't talk to him.

A/N: Wow. Lotsa people liked my other little ficlet thingy. It was nice to be able to write pure fluff for once. Therefore, I'm doing it again. It's yet another take on the episode "Chained". Read my other story for basic description of what happened in that episode. Tate, completely.

Getting Your Dream Girl: An Idiot's Guide 

"Ok, people. The director thinks it would be a good idea for us to have a secret Santa gift exchange. Therefore, will you please come up here and pull a name out of the hat?" Gibbs' voice was dry, annoyed, and brooked no argument. The team filed meekly up to his desk and pulled a small slip of paper out of the plastic top hat.

Kate pulled a name out of the hat, then sat down to look at it. _DiNozzo_. Great. She had to find something for Tony. First of all, she wasn't sure what you get a playboy with an ego the size of Everest. Maybe a hat to hide his abnormally large head? She snorted. She'd think about it.

Tony, meanwhile, was doing an inner happy dance. He got Kate. Beautiful. Now all he had to do was come up with something to give her. Only problem: what do you give your beautiful coworker who you've been in love with forever, who thinks you're the biggest ego and playboy to walk the planet? Hmmm… he'd have to think about that one.

That Saturday (I'm the author, time is allowed to jump however I want it to) both Tony and Kate ended up in the mall. Tony was wandering around the ice rink (so sue me, I'm modeling this around the biggest mall that I've ever really been to, ok? It's in Anchorage. Sad, I know). He was trying to figure out what to get Kate for Christmas. 'Let's see. She's pissed at me, hasn't spoken to me since she found out about that whole dog named Kate thing… If I were a pissed off, incredibly hot NCIS agent, what would I want for Christmas?' He continued to wander aimlessly, until he spotted the perfect gift in the window of one of the stores. Tony grinned. "I am so good…"

Meanwhile, across the mall, Kate was having a similar dilemma. 'All right. I'm pissed at him, he's a playboy, and I'm also in love with him. How did my life get this screwed up?' Then, like Tony, she spotted something perfect in a store window. "I'll take that one, please."

The day appointed for the gift exchange was cold and snowy. Gibbs had given McGee a ten-dollar bill "for coffee". McGee had given Abby a new pair of boots. Abby gave Ducky a subscribtion to a forensic magazine. Ducky had left a new holster for Gibbs.

Kate walked in to find a huge stuffed dog sitting on her desk. Attatched was a Hallmark card. The inside read "I'm sorry, can you forgive me?" The cover had a puppy on it. Inside, in bold, distinct handwriting, were the words, "I love dogs. Especially brown Shi Zus". Kate started blushing.

"Oi, DiNozzo!"

"Yah?" Tony looked up from his desk. He tried to pretend he hadn't been staring at her since she'd walked into the room.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, which made him glad he was sitting. If he'd been standing, he'd have fallen. "Oh, I forgot. I'm your secret Santa." He cocked his head to one side, expectantly.

'Wonder what she got me?'

"Say hello to Kate." She tugged gently on the leash he hadn't noticed before. A small brown ball of fur tumbled out from behind her legs. "She's a pure bred Shi Zu. I can't guarantee the mangy part, though…" Picking up the puppy, she handed her over to Tony, who was delighted. He set her carefully on his desk and scratched her head a few times. He was grinning like a little kid in a candy store. It made him look all the more great.

"Thank you so much, Kate. She's so cute!"

"Good, glad you like her. Now I don't have to keep her." Kate was slipping back into business mode. This was Tony, not some random cute, make that hot, guy. She couldn't let him figure out she'd been in love with him forever…

Tony felt the shift. Letting go of his new pet, he grabbed Kate's arm. "Hey, Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Then, acting on an impulse, he leaned over and kissed her gently. She didn't move for a moment, then kissed him back. They could hear Abby, Ducky, and McGee in the background, clapping, but they didn't care. When they broke apart, Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you two should take the day off to… get the puppy settled in Tony's house?" When everyone looked at him in shock, he looked affronted. "What? It's my Christmas gift to everyone. They get to go home early, you three don't get distracted, and I don't have to watch them making out. It's a win-win situation."

Tony grabbed the leash as Kate lifted the dog off the table. "Hey, Tony?"

"Yah?" Tony turned to see Kate blushing.

"I loved my present. And the stuffed dog, too."

A/N: See? More fluff! It had to happen. Anyhow, please help me decide whether or not to continue this one.


End file.
